Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Lowe's Motor Speedway

Carl Edwards Wins on Saturday Night at Lowe's
Casey Mears rolled the dice on Saturday night in Charlotte and crapped out on a restart with six laps to go when Carl Edwards blew past Mears to take the win the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Mears and crew chief Brad Parrott made their final stop of the night during the caution period for oil on the track on lap 137 and decided that would be their final stop and not to pit for the remainder of the race, attempting to go the final 88 laps on one tank of fuel. Edwards had dogged Mears’ bumper for about the final 18 laps but could not pull of a pass. Then came a restart with six laps to go. When the green flag flew, Mears hit the gas but his car didn’t go as it had a pick-up problem on the flat part of the frontstretch. Once Mears hit the banking in turn one, the car was able to pick up the little bit of gas left in the tank and took off. By this time Edwards was long gone. Edwards had checked out on the field and went on to win by 2.458 seconds. The victory is the first of the 2006 season for Edwards and the sixth of his NASCAR Busch Series career. Edwards' last win came Nov. 12, 2005 at Phoenix International Raceway. Mears was able to rebound and finish in the fourth position, remaining winless in both the NASCAR Busch and NEXTEL Cup series. Kurt Busch crossed the line in second place while J.J. Yeley finished in the third position. Martin Truex came home in the fifth position in only his second Busch Series start of the season. Rookie Todd Kluever was the highest-finishing Busch Series regular in ninth. It was his best finish since he finished seventh to open the season at Daytona. With the trip to victory lane, Edwards moved into second place in the Busch Series point standings, 348 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.

Carquest Auto Parts 300 Notes

· Race Results · Ford Post-Race Quotes · Rookie Post-Race Quotes · Point Standings · Owner Point Standings · Starting Lineup · Qualifying Results · Rookie Qualifying Quotes · Final Practice · Practice 2: Rookie Practice · Practice 1 · Qualifying Order · Entry List · Race Notes · Weekend Schedule · Raybestos Rookie Notes · Eric McClure Notes · Robby Gordon Notes · David Gilliland Notes · Dave Blaney Notes

· Kevin Harvick Notes · Clint Bowyer Notes · Denny Hamlin Notes · Carl Edwards Notes · Kyle Busch Notes · Greg Biffle Notes · Jason Leffler Notes · Matt Kenseth Notes · Reed Sorenson Notes · Mark McFarland Notes · John Andretti Notes · Danny O’Quinn, Jr. Notes · David Green Notes · Todd Kluever Notes · Tim Sauter Notes · Jeff Burton Notes · Kasey Kahne Notes · Casey Mears Notes · Scott Wimmer Notes · Mark Martin Notes

Kenseth to Start on Busch Pole at Lowe's
Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Busch Series pole position on Thursday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Kenseth will start on the Busch pole for Saturday evening's Carquest Auto Parts 300 after laying down a lap of 29.346 seconds, at an average speed of 184.011 mph. For Kenseth, the winner in this event in 2003, it will be his second pole of the season and the fifth of his Busch Series career. Jamie McMurray, as the last car to qualify, barely missed the pole by only 0.016 seconds but will join his NASCAR Nextel Cup teammate on the front row, starting from the second position. Kenny Wallace qualified in the third position, followed by Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick in the top five.